In today's digital world, the use of graphic user interfaces (GUIs) to display and manage information has become ubiquitous. For example, operating systems used in many personal computers, printers, copiers, electronic devices, etc., employ a graphic user interface (GUI) that displays information (e.g., text, images, etc.) for a user to view, and provides various icons or indicia with which the user may interact (e.g., a button, an Internet link, etc.). Software applications in these systems count on knowing, in advance, the typical position from which the user will be viewing the display screen, and will arrange and orient their graphical elements accordingly. For example, for a typical copier/printer, the applications assume that the user will be viewing the display at a typical viewing angle with one particular edge being at the “top,” and will orient text and images with that orientation in mind.
New applications or displays opened on the system assume the same orientation for the display, and present their information aligned in the same manner as other applications (e.g., they share the same understanding of “up” and “down” and display angle as other applications on the system). This allows the same user to easily and accurately see the information for the various applications. However, such arrangements may include drawbacks.